NYSUT chalks up a 'no' to Cuomo for now

Teachers union has "serious issues" with positions of Democrat

By JIMMY VIELKIND Capitol bureau

Published 11:30 pm, Thursday, August 12, 2010

ALBANY -- The politically potent union New York State United Teachers has declined to endorse Andrew Cuomo in his quest to become governor, a blow to the Democrat's ongoing efforts to win an endorsement from the larger AFL-CIO and an indication that NYSUT will square off against Cuomo as he pushes a fiscally conservative platform.

"Obviously, we could find little in common with (GOP challengers) Lazio or Paladino, and in the case of Andrew Cuomo, you know, he's been a strong supporter of education, of labor and social justice in the past, but when we look at his positions now -- especially on issues such as tax caps, constitutional convention and the size of the public work force -- we have serious issues," said NYSUT President Richard Iannuzzi. "We may revisit (but) we're not committed to revisit it, and if nothing changes then this will remain our position going forward."

Cuomo has been endorsed by several private-sector unions, but NYSUT is the first public-sector union to position itself on the sidelines.

A Cuomo spokesman declined to comment on the decision.

Iannuzzi said his union would consider an endorsement in the race for attorney general after the resolution of a five-way Democratic primary. The union has followed other labor groups in backing Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, who Iannuzzi said has been "consistently a great guardian of the pension system."

In legislative races, however, NYSUT walked away from many incumbents in the closely divided Senate. In the past, the union has offered cash as well as volunteers and phone-bank efforts to those in power, generating good will among legislators who consequently gulped hard when considering reductions in school aid.

In the Senate, Iannuzzi said the union backed six Republicans and six Democrats outside of New York City. But it decided to remain on the sidelines in several key races, including the re-election efforts of Darrel Aubertine, David Valesky and Bill Stachowski; it also opted for neutrality in Susan Savage's challenge to Hugh Farley, R-Niskayuna. Those races are expected to be close and contentious. (NYSUT is, however, backing incumbents Neil Breslin, D-Bethlehem and Roy McDonald, R-Saratoga.)

With Democrats in power, NYSUT's decision indicates a wait-and-see approach to the elections. Republicans are hoping that anti-incumbency trends will help push Democrats out of the majority.

Steve Greenberg, a pollster for the Siena Research Institute, noted that as of July just 30 percent of voters surveyed were ready to re-elect their senator, compared to 52 percent who preferred "someone else."

"As much as they hate the Legislature -- as angry as they are -- the real question for November is whether they will try to take it out on their local legislators," Greenberg said.

Iannuzzi said cuts to education in the budget put forth by Democratic senators, as well as votes to increase the cap on charter schools and cap local property taxes, were viewed negatively even though the measures were blocked in the Assembly.

"We walked away from a significant number of endorsements in both parties," Iannuzzi said. "The legislature has heard me say before that our members are no longer going to allow people to hide behind the 'one-house bill' concept."

That indicates Iannuzzi is aligning himself with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who has consistently resisted education cuts and measures like the property tax cap passed in the Senate.